Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC Sells 1,644 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,052 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,644 shares during the quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.92.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $42.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.51 and a 200 day moving average of $41.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $180.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).